Where Are All The Good Arms?

Where are all of the quality arms? With the home stretch of the baseball season being played out daily and the approach of the football season picking up steam, has it occurred to you that there are a shortage of quality arms in the two major pro sports that require them?

Baseball aficionados will tell you that most teams don’t have enough quality starting pitchers. In this day of the 5-man rotation, most teams can muster a number one, a two and sometimes a three. But, most teams struggle to fill the fourth and fifth spots with someone who can give them a decent chance to win a game.

MLB teams are always looking to upgrade their starting rotation. Due to the lack of durable, strong starting pitching, there is a great premium put on pitchers to “set-up” (8^th inning) and “close” (9^th inning) at the back end of games. We all know that great closers make the same millions of dollars for their 1-inning appearance as the great starting pitchers who throw about four-times the amount of total innings over the course of a full season.

When you think of it, professional baseball in America draws talent from a global pool. There are guys from Mexico, South America, Asia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Canada and Australia-- and the 30 MLB teams still can’t find enough quality arms!

Moving to the gridiron…if there were enough quality arms in the NFL, not just average arms, we wouldn’t be hearing of the never-ending saga of everyone’s favorite (kidding) gray-beard, Brett Favre, returning to play. The Minnesota Vikings must feel strongly that the three quarterbacks on their roster were just not good enough to play winning football. Being on the threshold of the regular season, more than a handful of teams are still struggling to declare a starting quarterback. At this stage of the pre-season all teams want to have starting positions locked up so they can fine-tune preparation for the games that really count, the regular season.

Due to their relative lack of productivity and efficiency to this point, the 49-ers played “Eenie, Meanie, Miney, Moe” and settled on Shaun Hill over Alex Smith. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are holding off until after their third pre-season game to choose the man that will take the helm. Byron Leftwich and Luke McCown are currently leading rookie Josh Freeman in that QB derby.

In Detroit, where the Lions matched the Motor City automobile industry for having an incredibly bad 2008, rookie Matt Stafford, despite being the #1 pick in the entire draft, is not quite ready to take over for a recycled Duante Culpepper. Because of philosophical differences in Denver between Jay Cutler and the Broncos new 30-something head coach Josh McDaniels, the Broncos traded away one of the game’s strongest young arms in Cutler to the Bears for a very average Kyle Orton. To illustrate the level of mediocrity, Orton is in a battle with Chris Simms, who was once a promising 2^nd round pick in Tampa Bay. Simms has thrown only 494 passes in seven years in the league. You can do the math based on a 16-game schedule over that span. He was an emergency back-up in Tennessee for just part of last season.

The NY Jets have had a neck and neck race between first round pick Mark Sanchez and fourth-year man Kellen Clemens. It looks like Sanchez at the wire by a nose. Regardless of who gets the nod, the Jets are looking up at the rest of the AFC East when it comes to who is lining up under center. Lastly, in Cleveland the Pumpkin Head loyalists are still waiting to see if it’s going to be the former Golden Domer, Brady Quinn, or the less-acclaimed Derek Anderson. As goes an old silly saying, "same difference."

To sum it up, it seems that we have too many pro teams in both baseball and football to effectively stock the rosters with quality arms who can win games. If that is not the case, why do we keep hearing the same stories each year about not enough good pitching and not enough quality quarterbacks?

If your team happens to have a quality player regularly throwing the ball, consider yourself fortunate. There are many fans who are envious.

When a Coach Goes From First Name to Last Name

It’s very interesting to observe how, over the course of time, football coaches are addressed in the media, as well as in water cooler talks among fans, and on sports talk radio. There’s a potential evolution that could take place depending on the success factor.

Case in point is in Tampa Bay where a 32-year old rookie head coach is just a couple of pre-season games away from coaching his first NFL game that really counts. Raheem Morris had coaching responsibility for the Buccaneers defensive backs solely by himself for just two years. He was a defensive quality control coach and an assistant to the secondary coach for a few of years prior to that. In between he did run the defense at Kansas State University for just one year. Following the departure of the Bucs long-time defensive coordinator, Monte Kiffin, immediately following the 2008 season, Morris was named to succeed him as the lead defensive coach for the 2009 season.

Then in a very surprising move, Tampa Bay ownership canned Jon Gruden as head coach in February and all of the sudden Morris went from not having coached a down as the defensive coordinator in the NFL to being the new head coach.

As an assistant coach, those around the Bucs practice fields knew him as Raheem or Rah. Media types also knew him by Raheem or Rah. He looks as young, or younger, and is as young or younger, than those with whom he is charged to lead as their head coach.

A question in my mind is when does Raheem become Coach Morris, and when does he become just Morris?

Right now it’s honeymoon time. The Bucs have not yet lost a game that counts on their 2009 record. He can be personable, quotable, and project an attitude of having fun while also being demanding. The players swear by him, love playing for him.

That’s all well and good. Right now there’s a buzz in Buccaneer Land that people like to hear. That’s because Morris is the “anti-Gruden.” Gruden, who has been scooped up by ESPN to serve as their Monday Night Football analyst and has looked good doing so, was often a little surly and curt with the media. He didn’t have the same music on his IPod as the players, like Morris, nor did he chest bump and celebrate big plays like Morris did with his defensive backs.

Despite winning a Super Bowl with the Bucs in 2002-03, his first year as their 39-year old head coach, Gruden never fulfilled the fans’ and ownership’s dreams of regularly making future play-off or Super Bowl runs. In the next six years they made the play-offs twice, losing in the first round each time. Therefore, he was let go for that reason and also so the Bucs could make a 180-degree turn in leadership.

If you were tuned into media talk and street banter the last couple of years, it was always “Gruden this” and “Gruden that.” This is my take on how coaches are addressed publicly. For such a long time it was common to refer to the head coach with some degree of respect by either “Coach Last Name”, or simply by using his first and last name. When things start to go sour, then it turns to last name only—kind of the way an old gym teacher talks down to a goofy kid reminding him to tie his sneakers.

Well, Morris actually is a step ahead of everyone. He has three possible levels to work through. He is already talked about like everyone’s buddy—Rah or Raheem. When it begins to slide a bit and people need to start being critical of him, they will get a little more serious and evolve to Coach Morris. Then, when they are really upset and frustrated he will just be referred to as Morris.

This is not a slam on Morris; it’s a slam on all those who create images for the average fan by the way they portray people in the media. Sadly, most average fans don’t have enough information to make their own judgment or create their own educated view, so they latch on to one they may have read on the internet or heard over the AM sports talk shows, which was created by some other person with hardly anymore insight than Joe Fan.

Buc fans and followers, let’s not speculate, get too high or too low as to how great or not so great the new 32-year old coach is. In just a few weeks you will begin to see for yourself. Make believe you live in Missouri, “the Show Me state”, and let things play out. Then you can form your own opinion.

No Pressure on Gators for Championship Repeat?

Pressure to perform at a very high level while fulfilling lofty expectations can weigh extremely heavy. Pressure itself cannot be seen. It’s intangible. Though we can’t touch it, it’s there.

If you have any role in the Florida Gators football program you would have a hard time not feeling the bulky burden of pressure placed upon the team this fall. Coming off of a national championship last year, their second in three years, the Gators are prohibitive favorites to repeat this year. Pressure is having to fulfill the expectations of so-called media experts, college football pollsters, a fanatical base of alumni and boosters, as well as the casual Saturday afternoon couch potato fan—and to do so on a national stage.

Week in and week out, beginning Sept. 5^th, Florida will play with a giant target on their back. Gator opponents will play David going against the Goliath Gators. In order for the Gators to satisfy all of the above, anything short of another BCS title will be construed as a failure.

There’s a commonly employed response that pops out when athletes or coaches are asked about dealing with pressure, regardless of the source or nature. “There’s no greater pressure than that which we put on ourselves to be successful.” That’s a standard line from the class, “Intro on How to Speak to the Media.”

But if you are a Gator, given Tim Tebow, a senior quarterback who was the 2007 Heisman Trophy Award winner, and a defense that returns intact from last year’s national championship team, the assumption in the college football atmosphere for a Gator repeat is as thick as hot, humid July afternoon in Gainesville.

After an extremely brief respite last January the Gators were hard back at it in the weight room and early morning conditioning workouts. The other Division I programs were, too. But the other 116 teams were not carrying around the already established weight that Florida had on their collective shoulders—another championship.

The athletic calendar moved into spring and the Gators worked their way through their 15 allowed spring practices. They adjusted to two new offensive coaches and a returning coach got acclimated to being the offensive coordinator/play-caller, not just the line coach. Soon spring became summer. Strength and conditioning coach Mickey Marotti was charged with continuing to keep the hammer down and demand more than the Gators had ever given. With great veteran team leaders showing the way, the summer was deemed successful.

In an article published in the New York Times, Coach Urban Meyer was asked to comment on the mood around the football offices. He was quoted as saying, “There’s more urgency and paranoia around here now. Everyone knows it. This is a good team.”

Whether it’s a player or a coach—when there is that kind of pressure, it is ubiquitous. It is all around, all the time, and it cannot be escaped. It’s at the grocery store while they stand in line to check out. It’s at the gas station as they try to just look at the numbers rolling along on the pump rather than make eye contact with on-lookers. It’s at the local casual dining restaurant when all they want to do is enjoy a peaceful meal with family or friends.

You can be assured that now, with just about two weeks until kickoff, Florida players and coaches are anxious to explode onto the field and begin to pursue another dream season. It’s been a long off-season, approximately eight months, between their last game when they hoisted the national title trophy in Miami and when they will soon kick it off against Charleston Southern.

Woe poor Charleston Southern. You have no idea how much pent up energy and excitement will be unleashed—not due to anything you have ever done to deserve this, but simply because you are the first step along another possible special journey for Florida. Pressure, what pressure? As coach/athlete-speak says, “There’s no greater pressure than that which we put on ourselves.”

Don’t believe it.

No Place Like Home, Except For Phillies

There’s no place like home. That was true for Dorothy and Toto, but not so much for the defending world champion Philadelphia Phillies.

Heading into action tonight the National League East leading Phils have a record of 66–49 for a .574 winning percentage, which ranks them fourth overall in Major League Baseball. But the Phils might want to trade a few remaining home series for road trips to finish out the regular season.

Incredibly, the Phillies have just a .500 (29 – 29) record at home, worst of all MLB division leading teams, and an outstanding 37 – 20 record (.649 winning pct.) on the road!

Either the City of Brotherly Love must be getting soft when hosting opposing teams, or the Phillies are not eating the prescribed amount of cheese-steaks for pre-game meals—maybe a little of both. Where’s the crudeness, the raucous crowd, the only city that ever booed Santa Claus, for God’s sake? You folks have to pick it up and make it tougher for visiting teams coming in to play at Citizens Bank Park.

The talk of road records is a sore subject for two teams contending in the AL East. While the first-place Yankees are a respectable 6 games over .500 on the road, the second-place Red Sox and third-place Rays are struggling, and it may lead to one or both of their undoing as a Wild Card entry. Boston is 5 games under water while Tampa Bay could be drowning in their 10 games under road record.

The only MLB division leading team with a losing road record is Detroit. The Tigers have managed to stay atop the AL Central with the lowest winning percentage overall (.530) and very pedestrian 24 – 36 record away from Comerica Park.

With a precious 40 games to go, as pennant chasing teams come around the clubhouse turn and begin to head for home, the wins will count just as big whether they come at home or away.

PGA Championship Was Great, But...

The final major golf championship of the year was decided on Sunday afternoon in Chaska, MN as Y.E. Yang of South Korea captured the PGA's Wanamaker Trophy. Yang shot a 2-under, 70, to wrestle the trophy away from Tiger Woods, who had won all 14 of the previous tournaments when he led going into the final round as he did this one.

This is a huge story for the golf world--Yang being the first Asian to ever win a major tournament and Tiger blowing his first tournament in this fashion. But, as a sports fan who would like to enjoy as much of this major golf event as possible, I have to say that I struggle to make it all the way through CBS' broadcast.

It's not just CBS, but they are the main player in this issue. Why is it that we have to have so many commentators working the broadcast who bring their British, Irish, and Australian accents to the airwaves? I know golf is a global sport and England, Ireland and Australia do supply competitive golfers that factor into most tournaments, but this is a network based out of New York, in the United States. These quirky little phrases that squirt out of the non-American broadcasters are cute for a few minutes, then they become tedious. They add no more to the broadcast than former professional golfers-turned golf analysts from right here in the U.S.

Do you think there are any commentators from our country working the World Cup (soccer) broadcasts over the BBC? I rest my case.

There is nothing more sappy than how broadcast TV treats the major golf events, especially The Masters and The Open (aka British Open). I appreciate tradition and history as much as anyone, but let's not get carried away. What gets me is the very drippy, mushy piano music that sends us off to commercial and also welcomes us back. If you didn't know what you were watching, by listening you might think you just tuned into a biography of a recent fallen world leader, or the passing of someone like Walter Cronkite just a few weeks ago. If you have not noticed or paid much attention to it, please do so next time you see a professional golf tournament on TV.

This past weekend the site was 100 % Midwest, USA (not that there is anything wrong with that). It wasn't Augusta National Golf Club, it wasn't Royal Troon in Scotland, but we still got a touch of that soppy music even though it didn't match the view or mood of Chaska, MN. How about matching the music to the setting, not trying to make the setting fit your music. There is nothing sappy about the Midwest.

Finally, who was the idiot that started screaming, "Get in the hole" so many years ago at golf tournaments that it has now become expected background noise after a golfer tees off on any Par 3? It's absurd. How many times over the last decade have other idiot wannabees joined in the "get in the hole" outburst on every Par 3 tee-shot, or on a lengthy putt on the green. The real question should be how many times has the ball actually gone in the hole when these yo-yos scream "get in the hole". What prompts someone to do that? Is it just so they can say "I yelled, 'get in the hole', and he knocked it in!"

I get my kick out of hearing the crowd turn loose with that sophmoric yell and then seeing a tee shot plop in the sand bunker well off the green, or a watching a long putt come up dreadfully short. What do you have to say now for your "get in the hole" cheer? Listen you people, no one gets it in the hole just because you screamed for it to do so, so get over it.

By the way, what happened to "you the man!", and the rainbow wig-wearing guy with the John 3:16 sign? It's time for the "get in the hole" people to go the same way as these.

YOU'D BETTER COVER YOUR MOUTH

We have all heard that line from a mother to her children when they sneeze or cough in hopes of preventing the spread of germs, “You’d better cover your mouth.”

Being a baseball watchaholic I can’t help but "cover my mouth" to prevent blurting out expletives. I am really weary of seeing grown men on a baseball field use their big leather gloves for something besides a tool of the trade to catch baseballs. I have no idea when it started, but there are two scenarios that have become increasingly more common, and to a larger degree increasingly more ridiculous, with players shielding their mouths with their gloves.

The first is when a pitcher covers his face when in a strategic conversation with his catcher in front of the mound. We can see part of the pitcher’s face move with the obvious mouthing of words through his leather shield, but we can’t read his lips. Has baseball become so advanced in their scouting, and also so paranoid in their psyche, that pitchers fear the opponents will read their lips and communicate this info to the hitter before the next pitch? Correct me if I am wrong, but I don’t remember Sandy Koufax, Whitey Ford, or Bob Gibson speaking to their catcher with glove-in-face.

It must be pitchers have a lot more to say these days. Back in the day the catchers ran the show. They did most of the talking and the pitcher nodded, shook his head, or just listened with no response. If it was a star pitcher he just told the catcher to get back behind the plate and catch whatever was thrown. At some point in recent history pitchers must have been spewing so much valuable information that opponents evidently employed lip readers, thus forcing them to shield their face, right?

To illustrate how young kids want to mimic the pros without even knowing what they are doing, read on. While coaching a 13-14 year old baseball team this spring I had a 14 year-old who pitched and played infield. When he talked to his catcher on the mound he did the glove shield thing. OK, I let it go. I didn't want to show my age. But, when I had to use the youngster once as a catcher… he goes out to speak to his pitcher in front of the mound, he's still wearing his catcher’s helmet and mask and, you guessed it, he puts his catcher’s mitt up in front of his face. I burst out laughing, partly because it was a first in my life and I found it hilarious, and partly out of embarrassment. Hey…you have a helmet and mask on…you need a glove to block your face, too? Amazing.

The second reason you see pitchers put their glove up is to disguise a fit of Tourette’s syndrome. You see them uncontrollably barking out a string of "bleeps" while exiting the mound, heading to the dugout, in favor of a relief pitcher.

I don’t want to see a grown man try to fool us by attempting to camouflage his personal disgust. Who are they kidding? I can still see their slumped-shoulders, head down with eyes to the ground, which then leads to the flying of F-bombs and profanity that would make a gangster rap artist proud.

What happened to holding your breath for a few seconds as you work your way from the mound to the dugout, and then explode in a fit of rage by throwing your glove against the dugout wall, or knocking over the containers of David’s Sunflower Seeds and Double Bubble? That's how frustrated baseball players used to vent.

I guess Mom was right; you’d better cover your mouth kids. While you continue to shield your face and fire off swear words like an automatic weapon, I’ll try to not do the same. I know what you are doing behind that glove.

With Tiger There's Just One Golf Stat That Really Matters

In the game of golf the only meaningful statistic, when you get right down to it, is getting the ball in the hole in as few strokes as possible. The PGA Tour published their most recent statistics following play on the weekend of August 2^nd and there are some really great talking points when you look at these names and numbers.

Tiger Woods, by any kind of ranking methods, is the #1 player in the world. Not many golf devotees will take issue with that. But, now take note and digest the following PGA stats:

Driving Average—1. Robert Garrigus & Bubba Watson (tie) 310. Tiger not in the top 10.

Driving Accuracy %--1. David Thoms, 75.9. Tiger not in the top 10.

Greens in Regulations—1. John Senden, 71.26. Tiger not in the top 10.

Total Driving—1. Lucas Glover 70.2. Tiger not in the top 10.

Putting Average—1. Anthony Kim, 1.713. Tiger not in the top 10.

Eagles (per holes played)—1. Bubba Watson 64.1. Tiger not in the top 10.

Sand Save %--1. Luke Donald, 67.71. Tiger not in the top 10.

Birdie Average—1. Dustin Johnson, 4.38. Tiger, 4.26 (4^th).

Scoring Average—1. Tiger Woods, 68.37. 2. Steve Stricker, 69.33. 3. David Thoms, 69.38.

All-Around Ranking—1. Tiger Woods 2. Steve Stricker

PGA Tour Money Earnings—1. Tiger Woods 2. Steve Stricker

Surprising? My guess is that a majority of us would have had Tiger in there somewhere in the Driving categories, or maybe Eagles, or Sand Saves.

What do we make of all this? First, the old adage that “you drive for show, but putt for dough” still rings true to a large degree. Just because you can whack it off the tee doesn’t guarantee low scoring. In Tiger’s case, by not being in the top 10 in any of the first seven statistical categories, yet ranking fourth in birdie average, and the very best in scoring average, shows that he has an incredible skill to recover from a bad shot and still score birdies, or save par, and ultimately score overall.

Does he rank in the top five or even top 10 in all or most of the categories shown above? Obviously not. Where he does rank the best is getting the little while ball in the hole in less strokes than everyone else, regardless of the means he takes to accomplish that task.

Automatic, a machine, super-human--not quite. Just the best, even if he doesn't dominate statistical categories.

Flash of Personal Revenge While at Roman Colosseum

When I planned a trip to Rome to celebrate my wife's and my 30th wedding anniversary I knew that we would see a week's worth of amazing sites, sculptures, and paintings. As it turned out, it was essentially a fantastic week-long history lesson.

Just like in the old Rocky & Bowinkle show, turning Mr. Peabody's "Wayback Machine" to 1974-75-76, our Iowa Hawkeye football team was subjected to one of the nation's toughest non-conference schedules. Our head coach, the late Bob Commings, a former starting guard on the Hawk's 1959 Rose bowl team, dubbed us "The Chosen Children" because of the brutal schedule. In 1974 we played USC, UCLA, and Penn State. All three had legendary great college coaches--John McKay, Terry Donahue, and, of course, Joe Paterno, just a middle-aged guy then. We actually upset UCLA in Iowa City that year, lost in a competitive game to the Nittany Lions, but got whacked in L.A. by the Trojans, 41-3.

USC came to us in 1975, and we hung tough, even had a shot to win before falling 23-16. Then in 1976, after upsetting Penn St. in Beaver Stadium 7-6, we traveled west again only to be throttled again by the Trojans, 55-0. The total score of the two games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was a combined 96-3. USC was "Tailback U." at the time, continuing the incredible tradition started by O.J. Simpson and Mike Garrett just a few years earlier. During this three-year span defenses were trying to find a way to stop Anthony Davis and Ricky Bell, and were having little to no luck. Ask Notre Dame, who saw Davis reach pay-dirt five times in one game against the Irish.

Aside from being embarrassed some 35 years ago, I didn't think that those two visits to the L.A. Coliseum bothered me that much. I do remember the 55-0 shellacking was on my birthday in '76, so not much celebrating on the flight home. But other than that, life went on.

Until I got to Rome.

Unbeknown to me, for the last three and a-half decades there must have been a very slow but steady simmer in the deep recesses of my mind and soul which continued to develop into a violent rolling boil. The end result of me being quietly perturbed for such a long period of my adult life because of the embarrassment suffered at the hands and feet of the USC Trojans, culminated in the complete loss of control during my trip to THE COLOSSEUM--the original structure in Rome which was completed in the year 80 AD under Emperor Titus.

You can see in the action photo above, I have over-taken one of the soldiers who was clothed in an outfit similar to the USC band outside The Colosseum. I was waiting for the crowd to signal either thumbs down or throat slash, just like crowds did in Ancient Roman times, so I could put an end to my personal rage and this soldier's life, too. But, as she has for 30 years, my wife settled my emotions, which allowed me to gather myself and put together a few lucid thoughts. Thus, the life of the solider actor, who poses with tourists from around the globe daily outside what was known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, lives another day to take more photos with more tourists.

In total, 96-3 for two visits to LA's Coliseum...I can still see vivid images of the USC Trojan solider on that big white horse, Traveler, gently galloping around the track in the Coliseum with sword held high. Now in mid-life all I can do to put some of the demons to rest is take this silly picture with a fake Roman solider, in a Trojan look-alike suit, and try to laugh it off.